Public meeting set to discuss Monongahela bridge project

Ben Conley, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·2 min read

Sep. 29—MORGANTOWN — A public meeting to discuss the West Virginia Division of Highways plan to build a new bridge across the Monongahela River will be held from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday in the Westwood Middle School Gymnasium.

Based on rough preliminary sketches provided to The Dominion Post, the bridge will connect to U.S. 119 /Grafton Road in the less than half-mile stretch between Scott Avenue and the Glotfelty Tire Center, at 370 Grafton Road. The connection will intersect Smithtown Road at grade south of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (379 Smithtown Road) before crossing the river and connecting directly to Rail Street, which is part of the Morgantown Industrial Park road network.

The DOH has said it intends to build the bridge in the next 27 months—at a cost in the neighborhood of $70 million—to expedite interstate access for trucks headed to and from the park, and specifically, Mountaintop Beverage.

While there will be no formal presentation, representatives from the DOH and the Federal Highway Administration will be on hand to discuss the proposed project and answer questions.

Project maps and other materials will be available for review during the meeting and at transportation.wv.gov /highways /engineering /comment.

Those wishing to file written comments may do so before Nov. 3. Send comments to Travis Long, director of the Technical Support Division of the West Virginia Division of Highways, at 1334 Smith Street, Charleston, WV 25301.

The state maintains the new bridge project is in addition to a new I-79 Harmony Grove interchange, but as the state can't control how quickly the Federal Highway Administration signs off on a new interchange, it's building the bridge to fulfill the promise it made to help bring Mountaintop to West Virginia.

Early discussions indicate the interchange could be completed within two years after the bridge.

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